It Began With a Teddy Bear
by Korquee
Summary: Hermione accepts Fred's gift to cure her loneliness, but she really didn't expect to be waking up next to Ron! The twins take it upon themselves to get the two together, but what happens when one twin falls a little bit harder then dear ol Ronnikins? HGFW
1. Prologue

**Dislclaimer ::** I am not JKR nor do I own any of her wonderful characters that I have used in this story.

**A/N ::** Just a quick opening to set up why Hermione is upset.

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It had been an evening to remember. She had been the envy of every girl at the Yule Ball. Dancing the night away in a sapphire blue dress with Viktor Krum, the girl had never before felt more beautiful. 

Upon saying goodnight to her charming date, Ron had insisted on following her all the way to the Gryffindor Commons muttering harsh words under his breath. Hermione had finally had enough and swerved around so fast that she almost lost balance on her heels.

The screaming match unveiled itself and the two stood there yelling and cursing and flailing their arms about, growing increasingly red in the face with every sentence that was spat out. "You know DAMN WELL that it is not MY fault that YOU chose to wait till their were no more girls left!!!" Hermione yelled.

"And what the BLOODY HELL are you doing DATING Harry's enemy!!?"

"He is NOT Harry's enemy, RONALD. They are participating in a COMPETITION, not some game where they try to KILL eachother!!!"

The two were unaware that they now had an audience watching them with mouths half open. No one dared to speak, the arguement was heated and if anyone else were to step in, they would of easily been ripped to shreds in a matter of moments.

"I just don't think you should of gone with him." Ron said defiantly, crossing his arms and pressing his chest out, subconsciously trying to intimidate Hermione.

"Then maybe next time, Ron, you shouldn't wait to ask me to the dance!!!" And with that, Hermione ran up the stairs to girl's dorm. Ron's chest deflated and his mouth dropped open in shock at what she had just said.

The Gryffindors cautiously made their way around him to head up to their own beds as Harry came over and patted him on the back, ushering him towards the boy's stairs.

"What was that all about?" Whispered Angelina to her tall date.

"Just Ron breaking Hermione's heart again." Fred responded.

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**A/N ::** Now the fun/cute stuff happens. 


	2. A Boy and His Bear

**Disclaimer ::** I am not JKR nor do I own any of her wonderful characters that I have used in this story.

**A/N ::** First Harry Potter fanfic.

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She couldn't stand laying there any longer. None of the girls would shut up about the ball or about who they kissed or about Krum's choice in girls. Hermione had enough and, with a very audible groan, she threw her bed curtains back and made her way down to the Commons in her nightdress. She made a fire in the hearth with her wand and sat down on a couch facing the warm glow, curling her legs up onto the cushion alongside her. She found herself entranced, just staring at the yellows and oranges, listening to the sound of crackling wood. 

The girl sat there for what seemed like hours, her eyelids slowly growing heavy as her head began tilting forward slightly...

A loud 'CRASH' and the word "Damnit!" rang throughout the otherwise quiet Commons. Hermione eyes shot open and she turned around to see what had happened. She found the source of the crash -- empty bottles of butterbeer that had fallen from the table to the floor, next to someone's feet who was only wearing one sock. Her eyes trailed upward to see a tall fiery-headed boy rubbing his hip and scowling. His eyes fell on Hermione and he grinned sheepishly, still rubbing where he had rammed into the table. "Hey 'Mione," he said.

"Hello Fred," the girl replied as she took out her wand, muttered a spell, and watched the bottles put themselves back together ontop of the table.

"Thanks." Fred said as he walked over to the couch and sat down. "What are you doing down here?" He asked, letting out a yawn. Hermione shrugged and pointed at the fire. "Couldn't sleep?" He asked, Hermione nodded. "Me neather," the boy said as he stretched.

The two sat in silence for a few moments before Fred continued to talk, "You know, everyone really liked your hair straight like that."

"It's just because they're used to the bushy bookworm." She muttered.

"Nah. You really looked good in blue though. Surprised everyone when you showed up with Krum."

Hermione nodded, not really caring. She didn't want to really talk about the dance, "I bet." She replied staring off at the fire.

Fred suddenly moved in close, leaning in front of her face, making Hermione jump back in surprise. "Why couldn't you sleep?" He asked, he kept blinking as though trying to keep himself awake.

"Why couldn't you?" Hermione asked, not wanting to talk about how upset she was with Ron. The boy grinned and sat back against the couch, no longer face to face with her.

"Ah, lets just say... Needs, urges, wants." Fred scooted closer to Hermione as he said this and she raised an eyebrow and turned to look at him with a grimace. He laughed. "Perv. I was talking about food. I got hungry and was looking to see if Ron forgot to take his Chocolate Frogs upstairs." He nudged her, "What were _you_ thinking of?"

"I, er, I don't know." She blushed in the firelight, her mind had instantly wandered to what Fred's urges were. Fred laughed again.

"So why are you down here and not upstairs dreaming about snogging Krum?" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"The girls wouldn't shut up and I, er..."

"You...?" Fred wanted her to continue.

"Felt kinda lonely sitting up there listening to them talking about holding people and love and all that rubbish." Fred stared at her for a moment, then a smile crept across his face.

"Wait here." Before Hermione could ask what he was doing, he lept up and dashed up the stairs to his dorm. A few minutes later, he returned holding a rather ragged brown teddy bear.

"What is that??" Hermione stared at it as Fred sat down next to her, holding the teddy close.

"Its a bear my mum gave to me."

"You still sleep with a bear?!"

"No! Er... kinda... I take him with me when I'm away from home, just incase something happens... I don't want to lose him." Hermione insisted to herself that she had to be dreaming. The twins were constantly making fun of Ron for his figurines of Quidditch players, and yet here was one of them with a stuffed animal. "Look 'Mione, you can keep him for a little while, till you don't feel lonely anymore." He held out the matted brown teddy to her, as if he were a 5 year old wanting to share his toy.

"It... it's ok Fred..." Hermione started.

"No! Seriously! Take him! Just... give him back eventually." Hermione sighed. She might as well do as he asked. She grabbed the bear by the ear between her pointer finger and thumb and dangled him in front of herself, inspecting him. She noticed that it had a dark X sewn into it's cheek. "Don't do that! Spuff has feelings too!" Spuff? Did Fred Weasley just say Spuff? The red-head snatched the bear from Hermione, pushed him firmly to her chest, grabbed her arm, and placed it on top of Spuff so that she was hugging the bear.

"Er, well, I'm sure the girls have talked themselves to sleep. I can probably get some sleep now." Hermione said while getting to her feet. She dare not move her hand away from Spuff incase Fred suddenly decided to take the movement as an act of war against him.

"Righto. George is probably passed out, I'm gonna take a few of his Frogs instead." He grinned and followed Hermione to the two staircases that led up to the seperate dorms. As the red head started climbing the stairs, Hermione couldn't help but ask,

"Why a teddy bear?" Fred turned and smiled.

"There was a time when my dad wasn't home much when I was younger. I missed him a lot, so they bought me this bear. Then when George was 5 and put in St. Mungos for stealing and falling off a broom, I missed him so terribly that my mom made sure that this bear helped me through the nights. I'm sure it'll help you with your loneliness too, 'Mione." Hermione smiled and found herself hugging the bear a little closer, she realized now why Fred treasured it.

"Goodnight Fred." Hermione said as she put out the fire with her wand.

"Sweetdreams Mrs. Krum."

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**A/N ::** Next chappie is when the interesting stuff starts to happen. **Review please**!! && of course, _thank you_ for reading. 


	3. Spuff's Surprise

**Disclaimer ::** I am not JKR nor do I own any of her wonderful characters that I use in my story.

**A/N ::** For the sake of all things simple, we'll just rule out the fact that the girl's stairs turn into a slide when a boy tries to run up them.

&& thank you to my 1st 2 reviewers. HRInuyashaFan16 && oranfly

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Hermione awoke to the sound of chirping birds and a quiet dorm room. It seemed as though she was the only one who was left and that the other girls had gone down to breakfast. She let out a soft sigh, Fred had no clue how much that bear had helped her sleep. It felt as though during the night she was actually sleeping with... 

What was _that??  
_  
There was something somewhat heavy laying on her stomach. Hermione reached down, expecting to feel the softness of Fred's teddy, but instead felt the smoothness of skin. That couldn't be right... She continued to feel it, whatever it was, and realized that it had fingers. Her eyes grew wide and she bolted out of bed, throwing her covers off her matress.

She screamed.

Sprawled out on her bed layed a sleeping Ron, clutching on to her pillow, wearing a white beater and sweatpants. She screamed again and started throwing her shoes, her books, and any other belongings near her at the sleeping boy. Hermione hit him in the face a few times with picture frames, but still Ron slept. Then she noticed an X on his face.

Cautiously, she took a few steps forward and peered down at him. He wasn't breathing, but there was in fact an X sewn onto his cheek. Hermione looked around, Spuff was nowhere in site.

She gasped... Spuff had turned into Ron?! No bloody way...

Hermione quickly changed, threw the covers over Ron's body, pulled the curtains around her bed, and ran down to the Commons. The room was empty, save for a few 1st years talking in the corner, so she made her way down to breakfast as fast as she could.

She entered the Great Hall and saw a very real Ron sitting next to Harry, scarfing down food. If Ron was here... then that was definately not Ron upstairs. Ron saw Hermione looking at him and he scowled at her. She rolled her eyes at him then she spotted the twins, or rather, a _certain_ twin. She marched up behind him, grabbed him by his ear, _"Hey!", _and pulled him out of the Hall.

Fred was much taller then Hermione and had to lean down so that she could hold his ear without ripping it off. She continued pulling him until she was sure no one else was around, then she calmly turned around, letting his ear go, and demanded, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT BEAR?!?!"

Fred blinked innocently. "Spuff?"

"Yes, Spuff!!! What exactly is it?!" Fred laughed.

"Wake up to something you didn't expect to?" Hermione crossed her arms.

"How do you get rid of him?"

"Ah, take me to him and I'll say the magic word."

"Just tell me how to get rid of it!"

"I'll show you!" Hermione huffed, but decided that she should just give in before the students had finished breakfast. She led Fred up to the Commons and stood at the stairs to the girl's dorms, she noticed that the 1st years hadn't left but were watching the two at the stairs. Hermione continued up to the dorms, followed by Fred who turned to the 1st years, gave them a thumbs up, winked, and smiled.

Hermione walked to her bed, hitting Fred as he tried to look around in the other girl's stuff, and pulled back the curtains and her covers to reveal the sleeping Ron. Fred laughed so hard to the point that he had to sit on her bed. "Whats so funny?!" Hermione demanded.

"Ah, nothing..." He leaned across the bed and cooed in Ron's ear, "Angelina." Hermione blinked a few times as Fred sat back up and Ron began morphing into Spuff.

"What the...?" Hermione grabbed the bear and started inspecting it again. Fred smirked, got up, and started making his way back downstairs, but Hermione stopped him. "Fred... explain."

"What's there to explain? It turns into your crush at night." Hermione's face went beet red. "Don't worry, I won't tell Ronnikins." Hermione dropped the bear back onto her bed and followed Fred down to the Commons.

"So why did you have to say Angelina to change him back?" It was Fred's turn to go red.

"Er, well, you gotta say the name of my crush to turn it back." The two walked out from the portrait of the Fat Lady and made their way down the stairs towards the Great Hall to finish breakfast.

"Why couldn't you of just told me that instead of going all the way up there?" A large grin grew on Fred's face.

"I just wanted to see who you fancied." Hermione hit his arm. There were a few moments of silence as the two walked together.

"I don't get it though." Hermione thought out loud.

"Don't get what?"

"Why does it turn into crushes when you got the bear when you were 5??" Fred smiled and went over to a wall outside of the Great Hall so that he could finish talking to the girl before they continued into breakfast. He leaned against the stone with his arms crossed, Hermione stood in front of him, peering up at the tall boy. He looked very, er, rather attractive leaning against the wall Hermione thought, she decided she liked him better when he was more laid back.

"I got it when I was 4, 'Mione. It was a bear then, but when George went to Mungo's when we were 5, Mum enchanted it so that it took the form of George when I slept with it. Then, when I woke up, I just said 'Wake up, George!' and then Spuff would come back."

"That still doesn't explain--" Fred put a finger to her lips,

"Shhh. Lemme finish. When I got older, I decided to switch the spell up a bit. That's all."

"You're a pervert."

"Think so?" Fred cocked his head to the side.

"Yes. Now move your finger."

"Awww, but your lips are so soft--_Hey!"_ Hermione bit the tip of his finger and walked off into breakfast.

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**A/N ::** Hope you guys like. **Reviews** are _very much_ appreciated!!!! 


	4. Operation Lovebirds

**Disclaimer ::** I am not JKR nor do I own her wonderful characters that I use in my story.

**A/N ::** Thank you to my lovely reviewers. It means a **lot** to see feedback && makes me want to continue on with the story. That's to you, _amythestpony_, _shorttrees007_, _Zinistar_, && _ginsensu_.

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The library was her favorite place to be, expecially when, as much as she hated to admit it, she needed to hide out from her best friends. She was sitting on an overstuffed couch in the corner, away from the rest of the students, trying to finish her book. But today, Hermione was having difficulty focusing on anything. The shock of waking up to Ron had really gotten to her and she kept falling victim to a few daytime fantasies, which she quickly shook out of her head, but not before blushing furiously.

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"I really don't understand her, Harry! Why on earth did she think I wanted to go to the ball with her?!" The two friends were walking along the hall, lugging a few books with them. Ron was, yet again, complaining to Harry about Hermione. But, before Harry could do anything more then open his mouth to answer his friend, two tall boys appeared on eather side of them and put their arms on both Harry and Ron's shoulders.

"Because you did." The twins said together. Ron looked to his left at George. Fred was by Harry.

"Going to the library?" George asked.

"Yeah." Harry said.

"Cool. You can do our homework then, Ronnikins." Fred said, Ron opened his mouth in protest.

"Ah, no complaints." Said George.

"Yup, you owe us one." Fred said.

"For convincing Dad to get the tickets to the Quidditch Cup." George smiled as he placed his books in Ron's hands.

"And for convincing him to let Harry go." Fred finished as the four walked into the library. They found a table to place their stuff at and Ron continued to complain.

"Now Ron, who said they would do our homework at least once during this year? Hmmm?" George nudged his little brother.

"Fine! But at least help me and Harry with this Potions study! Snape is killing us!" George rolled his eyes, but sat next to Harry to help out a little bit. He turned to grab his twin, but Fred disappeared before he could grab him. He walked around inbetween towering bookcases, running his hands along the book spines. He turned the corner and saw a bushy-haired girl reading a book with her back to him, her legs taking up the rest of the loveseat. He froze and ducked back behind a bookshelf, peering around the corner at her. He was mentally laughing at himself, he was stalking Hermione.

"I liked her hair better straight." Fred jumped a little and turned quickly to see George standing next to him.

"I like it bushy," Fred whispered

"She looked older with it straight."

"I know." George raised an eyebrow at his twin. "Er, I just mean that its awkward having Hermione looking older then she is." George grinned. The twins both peeked around the corner at the unsuspecting girl.

"She fancies Ron, doesn't she?" George asked.

"Without a doubt."

"You know..." George smiled mischeviously, "Perhaps they need a little bit of help getting together?" Fred's smile matched his twin's.

"A little push wouldn't hurt," Fred agreed

"Not one bit."

"Operation Lovebirds?"

"I'll take the wittle Weasley." George said in a baby voice.

"I'll take shy bookworm," and with that, George went back to the table with a huge mischevious grin and Fred walked over to Hermione.

Fred found it easy to creep up behind her, she was so entranced with her book that she failed to notice him reading over her shoulder. He leaned forward a bit more to read outloud in her ear, "His soft, tender kisses trailed down her skin, her back arching beneath his touch..."

Hermione slammed the book shut and turned around wide-eyed to come face-to-face with a grinning twin. Her cheeks were already red with embarrassment, but her blush continued to deepen when she realized she didn't know how long Fred had been there. "So, who's the pervert now?" He asked, waggling her eyebrows at her

"I beg your pardon? This is literature. Not some bewitched bear that turns into people." It was the only excuse she could come up with as to why she wasn't a perv for reading smut books.

"Imagination, Hermione, can be far more perversed then what reality can give." Fred continued to grin as he tapped her nose playfully. He had never been this close to Hermione before and found himself staring into her eyes...

Gorgeous big bedroom eyes...

Such pretty auburn eyes...

"Ah... er... right..." Was all she could manage to say before she got up from the couch. Fred blinked a few times in surprise but stood up also, not wanting her to leave quite yet. She was heading towards the bookshelves to leave but Fred quickly moved in front of her, blocking her path. He put his left arm up on shelves and leaned on the bookcase, looking down at Hermione.

What the bloody hell?? Why was his heart beating so fast?? When did Hermione get such enchanting eyes?! Quickly he tried to turn her mind elsewhere, she was peering up at him and could probably see his face starting to turn red.

"Have you told him?" Fred asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said defiantly, trying move past Fred, but he continued to block her way.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Hermione sighed and stopped trying to move past him. "Have you told Ron about your feelings?"

"What feelings?"

"Don't be silly. Spuff never lies." Hermione looked down.

"No... I haven't." She admitted.

"Why not?"

"He fancies someone else." At this, Fred straightened up.

"Who?"

"A third year. Her first name is Naomi."

"So you're gonna let some little prissy-priss stop you from telling Ron how you feel?" Fred watched Hermione shudder a bit. She took a few minutes to respond, but when she did, her voice was soft and weak.

"She... She's gorgeous, Fred. Stunning, really. It's like she just walked out of Warlocks Top 100 Witches." Hermione bit her lip for a moment and looked back up at the boy in front of her. Fred's chest gave a slight jolt, Hermione's eyes were filling with tears. "I have... no chance. He'd choose someone as perfectly proportioned as her over plain ol' me any day." Fred went to say something in protest, but she had already moved around him and started walking away.

He found himself reaching out to grab her, he wanted to pull her close, wanted to stop those tears from falling. But before he could grab her wrist, he stopped himself, sighing in defeat. Fred resisted the urge to follow after her and press the matter further, so instead he watched her till she was out of sight then scowled, jamming his hands into his pockets. He never thought that someone who could capture the heart of a famous Quidditch player could also be so self-conscious, expecially after she had already blown everyone away at the Ball.

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**A/N ::** So what do you think?? Feedback is much loved!! I'm thinking about going back && naming the chapters, I'm not sure though. Please review!! 


	5. A Hint of Jealousy

**Disclaimer ::** I am not JKR nor do I own her wonderful characters that I use for my story.

**A/N ::** Happy Birthday To Me!! lol, 18 today. Decided to quickly upload a chapter before I ran off to do newly legal stuff. :P  
Thank you to my wonderful reviewers, ((anna, ginsensu, Kenshinbaby, amythestpony, kateg123, xxZenonxx, Zinistar, && ronhermione007)) && of course all those who have reviewed before or have subscribed... You guys keep me motivated.

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The dorm room was quiet again, except for a few crickets and the soft hooting of owls outside of the windows. Hermione lay in bed, staring at Spuff in the moonlight. She hadn't talked to Ron all day, was she strong enough to wake up next to him? She had fought with herself during classes on whether or not giving Fred back the bear would be the right thing to do. The whole ordeal was rather creepy... But Fred had been right, the bear had cured her loneliness. 

Hermione sighed, there was no use denying it. She wanted to wake up next to Ron. She wanted to feel the warmth of someone next to her, she didn't want to spend the night alone. Hermione held the bear close and rolled over on her side, squeezing her eyes tight trying to stop herself from crying as she imagined Ron with a certain third year.

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"He says he likes some rich girl a year below him." George said quietly as he tossed a ball into the air. 

"Is her name Naomi?" His twin asked.

"Yeah, you know her?"

"Hermione mentioned her."

The twins were sitting in the dark on George's bed, whispering to eachother as their dorm mates slept.

"Ron's gotta like her. Seriously, whenever she even looks at another guy, he gets all pissy." George muttered. The two were quiet for a moment, no doubt trying to come up with a clever way to get Ron to admit to his feelings.

"Do you think Hermione is pretty?" Fred asked, almost inaudibly

"Huh?" Fred's question took his twin off guard. George looked over at his brother who was staring at the ground, deep in thought.

"Do you think Hermione is good looking?" Fred asked, slowly swinging his legs back and forth over the edge of the bed.

"Fancy her?"

"Ah, er, no," Fred felt his face growing hot, "But she thinks of herself as a plain bushy bookworm."

"Er, well... She kinda comes off as one. But I gotta admit, she sure knows how to dress up. I bet she's got loads of guys double thinking their opinion of her after the whole Krum thing. She's not ugly, but she's definately no Angelina." George nudged his twin and Fred smiled.

Angelina was, in plain terms, perfect. She never wore makeup, never saw the need to wear tight clothing, and yet she always looked gorgeous. She was also the nicest girl and fiercest female Quidditch player, and the best part was, she made it known that she adored Fred. Fred yawned and returned back to his bed, George shutting his bedcurtains behind him.

As he layed on his back, staring at the ceiling, Fred couldn't get Hermione's tear-filled eyes out of his head. Was she really that lonely? What the heck did she see in his little brother anyways? And most of all, why was she so insecure? He shook his head and flipped over onto his stomach, he'd deal with all the thinking in the morning, right now he was exhausted.

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Hermione awoke to giggles and the dorm door shutting closed. Her eyes were still shut and she blindly reached out in front of herself and felt warm skin that was not her own. Slowly she opened her eyes to stare at Ron's sleeping face. Hermione pulled her hand back, which had found his arm, and laid there, trying to calm her racing heart. 

Freckles. Lots and lots of freckles. More then the twins had and much more then Ginny posessed. His vibrant hair fell in wisps across his face and Hermione reached out to move them, wishing he would open his eyes. After a soft sigh, she came to terms with the fact that the Ron next to her was not real, nor would this probably ever happen.

"Angelina" she whispered and watched Spuff return in Ron's place. For awhile she stared at the scraggly, worn stuffed animal. Then she quickly grabbed it, hugged it close, then set it up on her pillows.

After changing clothes, she made her way down the stairs into the Commons to find Harry and Ron. She was going to walk past them, but it was Ron who stopped her. "Hermione!" She turned to the two boys.

"Yes?"

"Did you know Hagrid is half giant? We found out during the Yule Ball." Ron was blushing, no doubt unsure of how to talk to Hermione after their whole fight a few days ago.

"Well I figured he must be, considering his height." Ron nodded. Hermione nodded. Harry nodded while looked back and forth between them. Hermione felt somewhat uncomfortable, so she decided to continue down to breakfast. "Coming?" She asked.

"We already ate." Harry said.

"Ok then." She tried to control her heart as she left the room. Hermione was so happy to be on speaking terms with Ron again that she could of cried.

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He approached the pretty brown girl at the table and sat next her, she had her back to him so he put his chin on her shoulder. "Tell me your secrets." He whispered in Angelina's ear. The girl giggled and turned around, the boy took his chin off her shoulder. 

"What secrets, Fred?" He looked her up and down quickly,

"Your secrets!" She raised an eyebrow. "Beauty secrets!" Angelina laughed.

"You know I don't wear makeup."

"I know that, but I mean... How'd you get this way?" The girl laughed in a confused way. "Am I not making sense?"

"No, not really."

"I know you're natural... But, I mean, your hair or your soft skin, or," He leaned forward and breathed in her scent, "the perfume you use..."

"If Ginny needs a few tips, you go ahead and tell her to ask me." Angelina patted his head playfully

"Ah! No! Not Ginny! Someone else."

"Who?"

"I shouldn't tell... she doesn't know I'm helping her out." He chanced a glance at Hermione. Angelina caught it, looked over at the girl munching on toast, then turned back to Fred.

"Granger??" Angelina didn't hide her surprise.

"Shhhh. Yeah... She really likes Ron, but I think he's got a shallow streak. I'm pretty sure he likes her, I think he's too embrassed to admit it."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Er, well, get beauty pointers from you. You saw what Hermione looked like at the Ball, she's got it in her. I just want to boost her confidence or something to that effect." George walked up at that time and asked them if they had seen Ron. They both said no.

"How's it coming with Hermione, Fred?" He asked.

"Haven't had a chance to talk to her today." Fred said in an almost sad tone.

"You're in on this too?" Angelina asked George.

"Of course. But I'm working on Ron." Angelina rolled her eyes.

"Alright, fine." She said in exasperation, "But I want them back when you're done with them." The girl dragged her bookbag up from the floor and placed it on the table. She unzipped it and pulled out about 20 magazines. Fred's eyes went huge.

"Bloody hell!" The twins chorused.

"Do you carry those with you everywhere?!" Fred asked as he took the mags from her, shuffling through them, they were surprisingly heavy.

"Gotta have my gossip. There's lots of good tips in there."

"Thanks Angelina." Fred reached down, grabbed her hand, and kissed it tenderly before he got up.

"No problem." She felt herself smiling like crazy. The twins began wandering over towards Hermione

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Hermione had been watching Fred secretly while he talked to Angelina. She noticed how Angelina would play with her hair or gently touch Fred's shoulder while talking to him. It was obvious she liked him. 

What made Fred so popular with the ladies? He did have a way of making them feel comfortable, and could always make them smile if they were upset. George was the more rational and responsible one, if you could call one of the twins that. Of course, George was the shy one of the two... But why, then, was it always George who had a girlfriend and Fred who didn't? It was clear that Angelina showed her feelings to Fred, but why had he never responded to her affection?

Hermione watched the twins get up from the table, and Fred quickly kissed Angelina's hand. Suddenly a wave of jealousy flew over Hermione and, before she had time to understand why she was feeling that way, the twins had walked over to her. She quickly regained her composure as Fred dropped a heavy stack of magazines on the table, almost knocking Hermione's pumpkin juice all over herself.

"Do you know where Ron is?" George questioned her before she asked about what Fred was doing with girl magazines.

"He's, uh, up in the Commons."

"Thanks. You two have fun." George winked at his twin before turning to leave the Hall. Hermione turned to Fred, who was sitting beside her.

"What did he mean?" Fred grinned at her, then looked down at the magazines, then looked back up at her, then at the mags. Hermione got the hint, "Oh heavens no! I refuse!"

"You don't even know what I have planned! Hell, I don't know what I have planned! But I do know you've got Study first period, so instead, we're gonna go check these out." The red-head stood up, grabbing the stack of magazines.

"But Fred!"

"No buts, Hermione! We're going to have fun! And you're going to win Ron over! Now get up and go!" He playfully kept kneeing her in the back until she finally got up. Then with one hand on her back, he marched her out into the hallway. Fred was suddenly really excited, he was going to get to help Hermione out with her self-esteem _and, _more importantly, spend time alone with her.

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**A/N ::** If the chapter was lacking, I apologize... I had to show a bit more of how Fred && Angelina acted... Plus, this chapter sets up the next chapter pretty well. Please review!!!! 


	6. Insecurities and His Decision

**Disclaimer ::** I am not JKR nor do I own her wonderful characters that I use for my story.

**A/N ::** I have made this chapter just a _**little**_ _**bit longer**_ because I am unsure when I'll be able to update again. Hope you like!  
To all my wonderful, awesome, _fabbity fab fab_ reviewers && subscribers, you are my reason to keep writing. I **appreciate** the support.

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He was being girly. There was no other way Hermione could put it as she looked down from her chair at Fred laying on the Commons floor. He was on his stomach, chin resting in his right hand, and his feet were up behind him, gently kicking up and down as he looked through magazines. Fred was humming softly, copying articles lazily with a flick of his wand to place in a pile next to himself. Hermione found herself giggling. "Huh?" Fred looked around then up at her. 

"Nothing." She continued to giggle.

"It's not nothing if you're still laughing about it." Fred sat up on the floor, moving in front of Hermione's chair. He peeked at the magazine in her lap, looking for why she was laughing.

"It wasn't the magazine. I was laughing at you." Fred gave her a confused looked.

"I wasn't doing anything." She just smiled at him. It was a warm smile, but a playful one too. There was a jolt in his chest again and he quickly turned back to his magazines.

When did Hermione ever smile like that? His face was growing hot, he could feel it... He was blushing. What the hell?! He shook his head and flipped through more pages of "how to firm up in 3 days" and "never worry about pimples again!"

What was wrong with him? That jolt in his chest had started to make his heart beat a little faster, and although his blush had disappeared, Hermione's smile remained in his mind.

"I give up!" Hermione proclaimed as she threw the mag down on the table.

"What? Why?"

"Look at this, Fred!" Hermione showed him different magazine pages containing beautiful girls wearing everything from bikinis to tight fitting jeans. "I don't look like this! I don't have that type of body!" Fred stared at her in shock.

"Don't have that type of --- Hermione, yes you do!!" Fred jumped up and pulled the girl from her seat so she was standing in front of him. "Look at you! You're... you're--"

"Plain." Hermione murmered as she looked back down at the sprawled out magazines.

"No. That was definately not the word I was looking for."

"Boring? Average? Dull? Take your pick, Fred, there's plenty more to chose from." Her words were cold and Hermione felt Fred's body stiffen next to hers. She looked up at him and realized what she said had had an impact on him. His eyebrows were furrowed and he looked rather... hurt. "Fred, I..."

"Hermione... The key to winning a guy over is not by putting yourself down all the time. Nor is the key being full of yourself. You just... have to be happy with who you are..." Fred started gathering the magazines.

"But Fred, it's just that--"

"Hermione, how bout we just call it a day? I want you to just think this through. Think about how much you really like Ron and ask yourself if you really want to win him over. Because, honestly, you can do it so easily, you just gotta play up your look just a little bit, boost your confidence." He grabbed the last magazine and turned towards Hermione who looked like she was about to cry.

"I'm sorry Fred, I just... I _want_ to dress up a bit more, I _want_ to be more then just a walking encyclopedia to everyone... But I just... _I don't know how_. I don't know how to be _pretty_, I don't know _how_ to be sure of myself. I just..." Tears started to fall. She had never let on to anybody how insecure she was with herself, and yet she was crying in front of Fred about it. She wanted more then anything to win Ron over, but she had so much wrong with herself that she felt she needed to fix.

Before Fred knew what he was doing, he set down the mags, and pulled the shaking girl into his arms. Her hands were pressed against his chest as she covered her face, crying softly into his clothing. His face was growing red, he was sure she could hear his heart pounding. But at that moment, he didn't care if she could hear his racing heart, he didn't care if she could tell he was holding on to her a little more tightly then how 'just a friend' would... He just wanted to stop her pain. Her muffled sobs tore at his heart... He had seen her cry before, so why all of the sudden did it make him want to slug anyone that hurt her?

"Shhh... It's alright 'Mione. I know it's tough. We all go through that insecurity stage." He held her closer, she was so warm, so fragile.

Tenderly he stroked her hair, letting her cry for a few more moments before pulling away gently. Hermione rubbed her eyes, sniffling now and then. "Look 'Mione," Fred leaned down so that he was face to face to her. He wanted to reach out and brush away the stray tears, but he stopped himself and Hermione rubbed them away on her own. "Everything will work out, ok? Do ya trust me?" Fred smiled, trying to get her to show any sort of sign that she was doing better.

She looked at him with those eyes... Those alluring, bewitching brown eyes... Fred hated to admit it, but she looked even more pretty after she had been crying.

"You'd be stupid to trust a Weasley twin." She whispered. Fred laughed a bit and Hermione smiled.

"That's a smart girl." He ruffled her hair and picked up the magazines. "Well Hermione, just tell me when you're ready to try again. I'm always here." He started walking to the boy's stairs.

"Thanks Fred. Sorry for... for this..." Fred paused for a moment and turned to look at her.

"You really like him, don't you?"

"Yeah..." Hermione smiled weakly. Fred smiled back and nodded, then turned around and continued up the stairs. He got to the top, thought for a moment, then ran back down the stairs. He saw Hermione heading towards the exit, and called out, "Hermione!"

The girl turned around, "Yes?"

"For the record... Plain was far from the word I was looking for. I was going to say 'beautiful' but that word seems so overdone. Then I was going to say 'stunning,' but that just didn't express it. I think... Enticing describes it. And Ron better be careful cause if he takes too long, I'm sure some other guy would love to steal you away." And with that, Fred left a very confused Hermione alone in the Commons.

* * *

The red-head made it to his bed and sat the magazine's down on the floor. Standing up, Fred walked over to the bathroom and faced the mirror above the sink. 

"Snap out of it!" He hissed at his reflection, trying to shake the thoughts of Hermione out of his head. "She wants Ron." He turned on the cold water in the sink and splashed his face a few times with it. Fred looked back up at the mirror, scowled at himself, and walked back out into his dorm room.

"If it's Ron that'll make her happy, then it's Ron that she'll get." He said the sentence with forced determination. Although he thought Hermione deserved much better, he at least wanted to see her happy... To just see that smile...

"Argh!" Fred tore at his locks of red hair. He had to get Hermione out of his mind! Fred flopped face first onto his bed in frustration, mentally yelled at himself for a bit, then suddenly jumped up. Class! He had class!

Quickly Fred dashed down to the Commons and out of Gryffindor Tower. He rounded a few corners and saw Hermione talking to some girls. She turned and caught sight of him and smiled, waving her fingers at him. Fred's eyes went huge and he panicked. Usually in this situation, he would smile and chat for awhile before heading to class... But Hermione wasn't quite the person he wanted to see at the moment, not before he figured a few things out.

Turning around on his heels, he ran the other direction, far away from Hermione. Even if it meant taking the long way around, he didn't want to see her right now, she was invading his mind too much. He stopped running and slowed to a walk, the halls were still crowded, so he knew he probably wasn't going to be late.

"She just had to smile, didn't she?!" He muttered to himself. His heart was racing, not only because of his sprinting, but because she had done that little seductive wave that women do. The same one that Angelina would do to beckon him over herself.

"Fred! Wait!" A familiar voice... It was Hermione's.

"Oh no she doesn't..." He didn't want her to follow him, he didn't want to think about her, he just... He took of running again.

Why the hell was he running from Hermione in the first place? He wanted to talk to her, he wanted to walk her to class, he wanted to hug her and hold her and -- "Argh! Stop thinking about her!"

Fred turned the corner and spotted his twin, along with a few of his other friends. He stopped running and walked up to the group smiling, he was saved. George saw him and nodded his head upwards, indicating a hello. Fred was happy he outran Hermione, besides, she would of been late to class if she had followed him any farther. "Hey Lee." Fred said to a black boy a little shorter then him. He had his arm around a blond girl who, Fred noticed, was chewing a large piece of bubblegum in a rather, er, slutty way.

"Haven't lost my magazines yet, have you?" Angelina asked Fred, moving from Katie Bell over to Fred's side.

"You just gave them to me, I'm not gonna lose them that fast." Angelina smiled up at him. She had a pretty smile... but it wasn't as charming as --

"There you are!!!" Fred spun around as Hermione came up to him. "Why'd you run away from me?" She asked. Fred opened his mouth to come up with some crazy excuse that had to do with exploding toilets and pesky nifflers, but before he could, Hermione's eyes fell on the blonde girl that Lee had has arm around.

"Hello Granger." The girl sneered at Hermione, making an almost perfect impression of Malfoy.

"Hello Naomi." Hermione said coolly. It was obvious they weren't very fond of eachother. Fred felt anger rising up, who did this girl think she was talking to Hermione like that? Hermione glanced up at Fred, she looked annoyed.

But she looked so... beautiful too...

Fred was suddenly very aware of his heart starting to race faster the longer he looked at Hermione. He was suddenly very aware that his face was growing red and that he was getting a huge urge to put his arm around her. Fred was, in fact, very, _very_ aware that he was falling for Hermione Granger...

As he stared down at Hermione, he realized that the girl Ron fancied was dating Lee now, and that Hermione's compition was now gone... He also realized that the only thing that stood between Hermione being with Ron and Hermione being happy was himself...

At that moment, Fred realized exactly why he had ran away from the girl he was falling for... It was because he was _terribly_ _afraid_ of hurting her. It was because he had seen her tears, he had held her while she had cried, he had seen her pain. And all Fred wanted was for her pain to go away...

He just wanted to see her smile, and if the only way she could smile was by being with his brother, then so be it. If it was Ron that would make her happy, then it was Ron that she would get.

He'd be damned if he was going to let himself get in the way of Hermione's happiness.

Without a second thought, and making sure everyone saw, Fred turned around to Angelina and kissed her.

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**A/N ::** So... what do you guys think? **Reviews?**


	7. So Close, It Hurts

**Disclaimer ::** I am not JKR nor do I own any of her wonderful characters that I use for my story.

**A/N ::** Your reviews mean so much!! The support is amazing. Sorry I couldn't update for awhile, I usually like to write out 2 or 3 chapters before posting one so that I can go back and edit them/make changes... I had a _difficult_ time with this chapter for some reason and kept rewriting it and rewriting it to the point that the next 2 chapters don't fit ((so now I have to write brand new ones. Oi.))

Even with all of the rewriting, I'm _still_ not satisfied with this chapter... saddness...

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"Look at them, they look so happy." Ron said as he turned to his two best friends. Hermione looked up from her hot chocolate and toast at Fred and Angelina. 

"Yeah, they do." Harry said.

"Fred doesn't." Hermione mumbled as she nibbled her bread. Ron raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He asked

"Nothing." Hermione said. Was she weird for taking notice to how Fred would scoot away slowly from Angelina? Or how he wouldn't kiss her in public and had a hard time holding on to her hand?

"They've been dating... 3 weeks now?" Harry asked Ron.

"Four." Hermione interjected.

"Jeeze 'Mione, when did you become so involved in the gossiping world?" Ron asked. Hermione stuck her tongue out at him and got up from the table to leave, taking her drink with her. She took notice that Angelina was now sitting alone, talking avidly to Katie Bell.

The only reason she knew how long Frengelina ((as they sixth years called them)) had been going out was because ever since the day Fred had kissed Angelina, he stopped talking to Hermione. He also made it very obvious that he was avoiding her, which she found very annoying and chose to slowly start to forget that she had started growing close to him.

_"Pipparterpotorious."_ Hermione said to the Fat Lady and she swung open to let Hermione climb through. As soon as she entered the Commons, she smacked right into, none other then, Fred Weasley, spilling steaming hot chocolate all over his clothing.

"HOT MOTHER OF--!!!!" In one quick motion, Fred ripped his clothing off, leaving him standing in only boxers. He was cursing and kicking at his clothes on the floor in a matter of seconds. It had all happened so fast that all Hermione could do was stand there with her mouth open, staring at him. After he was done kicking his shirt and pants into a ball, he finally turned to see Hermione... Who was still standing with her mouth open. "Oh, hello." Fred smiled pleasantly. A few moments passed and he suddenly seemed to remember that he was almost naked because he spat out, "OH, HELLO!!", flicked his wand at the clothes to clear away the drink, and hurriedly put the clothing back on.

Hermione finally shook herself awake after zoning out for a few moments because, er, well, Quidditch does a body good.

"Hi." She finally said to the boy after they had stood there blushing in silence for awhile.

"How are you?" He asked.

"I'm, er, alright. Sorry about the hot chocolate."

"It's ok..."

"How have you been?" She asked.

"I've been ok. Never thought I'd miss the single life so much." Hermione raised her eyebrows and Fred realized what he had just said. "Er, no! I mean, Angelina is great, it's just... It can be exhausting and er... yeah..." Fred blushed a deep shade of red. The conversation went dead and Hermione was feeling rather uncomfortable. She didn't know what to say. "Oh! Wait here, I got something for you." Fred turned around as he was saying this, but before he could reach the boy's stairs, Angelina walked into the Commons.

"There you are, Fred. Hello Hermione. We're supposed to go to the library to study for Transfiguration. George, Lee, and Katie are all in there already."

"Ah, er, right." Fred followed Angelina to leave the Commons and raised his forefinger at Hermione, indicating that he wanted her to wait a minute. A little while later Fred came back into the commons and walked up to Hermione. "I can't give it to you right now, but can you meet me here tonight when it's empty?" Hermione blinked.

"Not that way, you perv." Fred said as he bopped Hermione on the forehead.

"I wasn't even thinking that! You're the pervert for thinking that I was thinking that." Hermione hit his arm. Fred smiled.

"You're weird."

"I am not!" Fred laughed and went to the Common's exit, but not before turning around to say, "I missed ya, 'Mione."

Hermione shook her head, he had that little way of adding something that made her heart skip a beat.

* * *

Hermione looked up at the clock on the wall. It was 2 in the morning and she was growing very impatient. She had classes early tomorrow and the Commons had been empty for over an hour. "That you 'Mione?" Hermione looked over to see Fred yawning, holding onto a stack of-- oh lord no, not magazines. 

"Who else would it be at this time of night?" He smiled sheepishly and sat the magazines next to Hermione.

"Sorry, kinda feel asleep." Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up, this was going to be a waste of her time and her soft pillows were beckoning her. "No, wait." Fred gently placed his hands on her shoulders and made her sit down again. "This should take less then an hour, but do you trust me?"

"Why?"

"Just... do you?"

"Sure." Hermione was confused, but she agreed anyway.

"Good." Fred grabbed the stack of articles next to Hermione and sat on the ground in front of her. He flipped through the pages, stopped at one, and waved his wand. Suddenly, Hermione's nightgown had tranformed and she was sitting in a tight pair of low risers and a white blouse.

"What are you doing?!" Hermione jumped up, ready to hit Fred, but he was pointing to a mirror across the room,

"Go look. I want you to see yourself." She scowled and walked over to the mirror. Hermione's eyes grew wide, was this really her?

Fred had turned her hair straight and put a white ribbon in it, and the clothing looked extremely flattering on her, hugging her curves. Fred raised his wand again and the outfit changed to a soft blue sweater, white pants, and heels. He waved his wand quite a few more times after this, each time changing her outfit and her hair. "I just wanted you to see how... good you look..." Fred said from across the room.

This almost brought Hermione to tears. She did look good, the clothing he had picked out looked great on her. It was obvious he had spent quite a lot of time going through every magazine to find clothing for her and she just wanted to hug him and thank him a million times.

Hermione heard Fred shuffling through the magazines behind her and then she heard him giggling, next thing she knew, she was standing in a pink string bikini.

"Fredrick Weasley, you change me back right this instant!!!!"

"Never! It looks good on you!"

"No! Ew! It doesn't! Change me back!"

"Make me!" Hermione swerved around and saw Fred's smile drop and his mouth form an 'O' shape as he stared at her; she looked amazing. Hermione marched over to the boy who was sitting and raised her fists to punch him a few times, but failed to notice his outstretched legs. Instead of hitting Fred into turning her clothes back to normal, she tripped over his legs and fell forward towards a table corner. Hermione let out a soft whimper and immediately shut her eyes to brace herself for impact, but before her head could collide with the wood, two athletic arms reached out and pulled her out of harm's way.

There was a soft 'thud' as Hermione fell onto something that was definately not the floor.

"That was close," Fred breathed in Hermione's ear. Somehow, she had ended up on top of him. Hermione scrambled to get up, but her bare foot slipped on the pile of scattered magazines and she fell on top of Fred again. Fred inhaled sharply.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry! Did I... did I get you?" Judging by Fred's horrified expression, Hermione thought that her knee had accidently hit him between the legs. She couldn't have been more wrong, however, because when she had fallen on Fred, she had unknowingly pressed her hips into his.

"I'm fine," Fred murmered to her. _Oh gosh, this is bad. This is bad, bad, bad._ Fred thought, then he realized that his hands were still on her bare waist from when he had grabbed her and he instantly let go of her. But Hermione still layed on top of him, looking down at his face. "...Hermione?"

She had never really realized how chiseled Fred's features had become since she had first met him, or how his hair was a darker shade of red compared to Ron's. His long hair had fallen over one of his eyes, covering the orbs that Hermione suddenly wished to see. She found herself reaching out to move a few stray strands away from Fred's face and her fingers softly traced the outline of his jaw as she drew her hand back to herself.

His heart was racing, his heart was pounding, Fred was going insane. What was she doing? How did this girl have so much control over him with just a simple look, a simple touch? Oh how badly he wanted to reach up and pull her body close, to capture her lips with his own. Everything seemed to be happening so fast and before Fred really had any time to think, he leaned up towards her and watched Hermione's eyes stare deeply into his own before she slowly shut hers.

Hermione was sure Fred could hear her heart hammering at her chest. She knew this was wrong, so horribly wrong, but at that moment all she wanted was her first kiss. She wanted Fred to take hold of her and show her she wasn't wrong for feeling this way, that she wasn't wrong to want to kiss someone who was taken. Hermione felt Fred's hot breath on her lips, stopping just short of embracing them, and felt his hand glide tenderly across her cheek to rest on her nape.

"Eh-hem?" A voice came from the boy's stairs and Fred jerked away from Hermione as she struggled to stand up quickly. Fred waved his wand as fast as he could to change Hermione back, but he knew he hadn't been quick enough to hide her bikini-clad body from whoever had caught them. Hermione and Fred both turned to see who had seen them.

"Oh thank god it was just you, George. Gave me a bloody heart attack." Fred said to his twin as he breathed a sigh of relief. Hermione was blushing a deep crimson as she helped Fred gather the scattered magazines.

"Hey Hermione... you know I'm not taken, right?" George winked at the girl. Hermione flipped him off and he just laughed.

"How, um... How long..." Hermione's voice trailed off as she tried to ask George a question.

"How long have I been here?" George finished the question for her and Hermione nodded. "Ever since you yelled at Fred. I wasn't the only one that heard eather, but Lee nominated me to go investigate."

Hermione and Fred both went scarlet. George had witness their little 'incident.'

"Er... here... these are for you to help with the Ron thing." Fred said to Hermione as he handed her the magazines. Hermione gave him a very confused look as George said, "I'll head upstairs."

"But we just, we almost..."

"Hermione, I'm... I'm with Angelina... I can't do that to her. I... She's my girlfriend..." Fred wasn't looking at Hermione. He just couldn't look at her hurt expression, her confusion, her anger.

"But Fred, I... I think I like yo--" Fred covered her mouth.

"Don't say that. Please don't say that." He was in pain, his heart was crying out, he wanted to hold her and tell her how much she really meant to him... But he couldn't. He just couldn't do it. "I'm happy with Angelina... I can't do this to Ron. I know you can be happy with him too."

Oh how his heart screamed at him, how it cursed him and tore at him. Fred could feel Hermione's lips trembling beneath his palm and he knew he was hurting her. He wanted to explain it all, how he wanted to protect her, how he merely kissed Angelina so Hermione could be happy, how he had fallen for her, and how terribly scared he was to hurt her... But despite the cries from his broken heart, Fred remained silent, watching Hermione slowly fall to pieces.

Tears were brimming her eyes, how dare Fred toy with her emotions like that! "F-Fine!" She stammered.

Without another word to Fred she stormed off up to her room and threw the magazines onto her bedtable, flinging herself onto her bed. She saw Spuff sitting on her pillows and she grabbed the stuffed bear. Hermione wanted to chuck him across the room in her fury, but before she let it leave her hand, she stopped herself and stared at it. It was so... ragged... so well used. It was like it had once been a fluffy brown bear, but due to numerous washes and years of being slept with, it had all matted down. It was still soft, but it had a lot of stitching in it where stuffing had been inserted. Hermione shook her head at it. "You're very pitiful," She said to it as she sat it up on the windowsill above her headboard. She would not be sleeping with Ron tonight, she was rather angry at male red-heads at the moment.

* * *

Fred buried his head in his pillow, letting out a string of curses. George had promised he wouldn't tell anyone, but that made Fred feel even more guilty. He felt his world crashing around him. All Fred wanted was for Hermione to be happy, but to him, it seemed like he was doing more damage then good. He hadn't talk to her in almost a month and then tried to kiss her... _and then_ he basically told her to forget him!! 

Fred wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, he was just so angry at himself for letting such a wonderful girl go. She deserved more then this and he finally found himself determined to make sure Ron saw how great she was.

"George?" Fred whispered towards the bed next to him.

"Yeah, mate?"

"Love sucks."

* * *

**A/N ::** Rawr! _Still_ not happy with this chapter, I was having a really tough time closing it. For some reason, I find it kinda OOC, but then again you never _really_ do see these two get involved with anyone romanticly in the books. Ah, well, hopefully the next chappie will be more in character.  
**Reviews are much loved!**


	8. Someone Else To Her Rescue

**Disclaimer ::** I am not JKR nor do I own any of her wonderful characters that I use for my story... However, I do own the idea for Spuff...

**A/N ::** Thankies to the reviewers!! Oh, and the readers, I know some people don't review, but if you take the time to read my story, I want to thank you too. I actually got a request for a longer chapter... I'm actually _really_ excited for the **next **chapter, I just had to give a bit more character developement in this one before I could post the next chappie. Well, enjoy!!

* * *

"Hermione!! I need the bathroom! If you're going to take this long, go to the public ones!" Lavender pounded on the wooden door a little bit for effect. 

"Ok, ok, hold on!" Hermione yelled. She looked once more at the mirror and let out a soft sigh, tucking a strand on straight hair behind her ear. "This is gonna as good as it gets," she whispered to herself as she turned to look at herself from the side. Blue was definately her color and the sweater did look nice, but she was going to have a heck of a time trying to hide how uncomfortable she was in such well-fitting jeans.

"Hermione..." Lavender whined. Hermione rolled her eyes and closed the magazine she had been using as a reference.

"All right, I'm out!" She exclaimed as she swung open the bathroom door. Lavender's eyes went wide and she stared at Hermione in shock.

"Just who did you fall in love with?" Hermione raised her eyebrows as the other girl started examining her newly straightened hair.  
"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's obvious! You're trying to get someone to notice you!" Hermione blushed.

"Can you really tell?" Lavender giggled.

"It looks good. Ah, I've got something to go with it." Lavender rummaged through her trunk and handed Hermione a pair of earrings and necklace.

* * *

It was nerve wracking walking along the near-empty hallways to breakfast, she was lost in her thoughts and rather nervous about what Ron would think, well, what everyone would think. The Gryffindor lingered for a moment outside the Great Hall, "Mkay, just go sit next to him," Hermione told herself as she walked into breakfast. 

It was normal, just like every day, till she got past the middle of the table and Seamus let out a cat call. She turned to look at him and all the boys next to him gaped at her. Hermione found herself smiling as Lavender gave her a little thumbs-up sign. She spotted Harry, his back was to her, and next to him was Ron. Hermione's heart did a little flip, she was hoping Ron would take notice, but as she drew closer to the table, she saw that Fred was sitting across from the empty spot next to Ron.

Hermione froze, she wasn't sure how Fred was going to act towards her after last night's incident, but as more cat calls came from the Gryffindor table, she regained her composure and sat next to Ron. "Hey boys," she said to Harry and Ron.

"Hey Hermione," they both mumbled without looking up at her. Hermione became a little flustered and looked down at her plate, playing with her necklace. She wanted them to notice, but they were too busy eating.

"Oi, Ron!" Ron and Hermione both looked up at the red-head sitting across from them.

"Yeah, Fred?" Ron asked.

"Did you see the chick sitting next to you?" Fred looked at Hermione and gave her a slight wink, then turned back to Angelina.

"Bloody hell!!" Ron suddenly exclaimed and Hermione's head snapped to her right to look at him. He was staring at her with his mouth agape, which was rather unattractive because his mouth was full of food, and Harry was peering over Ron's shoulder, blinking in disbelief. Hermione couldn't help but smile.

"Something wrong?" She asked innocently.

"Yes! You're stunning!" Harry laughed and patted his friend on the back.

"That's not a bad thing, Ron, and she's always been pretty," Harry added, "Hermione, you look nice."

"Thank you, Harry." Hermione was blushing a deep shade of red. She turned to give a silent thanks to Fred, but found his and Angelina's seat empty.

* * *

"So you're saying she likes me?" 

"Ron, are you that utterly deaf that you've been tuning me out for the past couple of months?" George asked.

"Huh?" George shook his head.

"Yes, you bloody idiot, she likes you!" Fred yelled.

"Get a move on already." George crossed his arms.

"Quit being a prat and ask her out." Fred mimicked his twin and crossed his arms also.

"I, er, want to." Ron said as his face flushed.

"Then do it already!" The twins chorused.

"It's obvious she likes you. Why else did she start dressing up a week ago?" Fred asked.

"I, er, don't know."

"For you!" George said as he threw his arms up in exasperation, "Ah, hello Harry, Hermione." Ron turned around to greet his approaching friends, hoping they hadn't overheard his conversation.

"Hi George," Harry greeted him, "wasn't Fred just here?" George blinked and looked around, his twin had left.

"Ah, er, we got to get to class, he just forgot to grab me." George smiled as he lied, trying to make himself believeable. He had caught Hermione's eye and saw a glint of hurt, but she quickly suppressed it with a smile. "You look ravishing, love," George said as he blew a kiss to Hermione, he saw Ron stiffen and he laughed as he left the trio.

A few moments later, George spotted Fred talking to Lee and Alicia. He came up behind him and grabbed him, "There's my reflection," George mumbled as he dragged Fred to the nearest bathroom. "Scat little one," he said to the only 2nd year in the room.

"What's up?" Fred asked.

"Are you... alright?" Fred let out a loud laugh, maybe a little too loud because George gave him a concerned look.

"Yeah, I'm fine... perfectly fine..." Fred was looking everywhere except at his brother.

"You sure? Because if you need to talk, I'm always---"

"I said I'm fine." Fred finally looked at George as he cut him off. "I just..." His voice trailed away.

"You just...?" George waited for him to finish.

_I just miss her_, Fred thought. "Nothing," he replied as he walked out of the bathroom.

George heard the door slam behind his brother and he punched the nearest wall in frustration. Something was bothering Fred, but for the first time that George could remember, Fred was refusing to talk to him about it. He was pretty sure he knew Fred cared for Hermione, probably even loved her, but he had also taken great care to avoid her.

George made it to Transfiguration just before the bell. He took his seat next to Fred and they sat in silence for the first half of the class, then Fred passed him a note when McGonagall wasn't looking.

_Do you think they'll be happy?_

George read the note and smiled weakly as he scratched a reply back with his quill, he figured out why Fred was upset.

_Yes, Fred. She'll be all right._

* * *

Two weeks since the bikini incident and Fred realized that he had pushed Hermione so far away from himself that she had stopped trying to get his attention. She didn't wave anymore, didn't try to catch his eye with a smile, and didn't try talking louder when he walked by so that he would notice her. All and all, she was moving on. "Don't look so down," a girl's voice whispered in his ear, snapping Fred from his thoughts. 

"Hey Angelina." Fred's hand immediately went to her shoulder.

"You know Fred, you should hold me like this," Angelina moved his hand down to her waist and Fred felt a blush forming on his face. She laughed, "So what do you want for our anniversary?"

"Eh?"

"Don't tell me you forgot!! Our 2 month anniversary is on Thursday!"

"I... I didn't forget," Fred didn't realize how fast time had gone by since he had first kissed Angelina.

"You lie, you're horrible with dates." George's voice seemed to come from nowhere. The three of them continued to class together, but as they turned down a particular hallway they saw a crowd of people congesting the hall.

"Oh not again, what is Peeves doing this time?" Angelina rolled her eyes.

They drew closer and spotted a group of familiar 6th year Ravenclaws. "What's going on?" George asked them.

"Some Slytherin slapped a Gryffindor on her backside." The twins raised their eyebrows at eachother.

"Any clue who they are?" Fred asked.

"Nope. You could probably get closer, we're just waiting for it to clear." The Ravenclaw replied. The three decided to move farther up and soon enough they could hear voices.

"Draco Malfoy!! If you ever touch me in that way again, I will curse you to oblivion!!" Angelina and the twins looked at eachother in  
surprise. Fred's heart started pounding, he knew that voice.

"Isn't that why you dress that way, Mudblood? Could of swore you wanted that type of attention." Fred's fists clenched and his adrenaline rose rapidly. He started pushing his way through the crowd, he was going to kill Malfoy. How dare that arrogant mugglef--, how dare he lay a hand on Hermione!

As the last student moved out of his way, Fred shouted at the Slytherin, but his voice was drowned out by someone else yelling...

"Who do you think you are, Malfoy?!" Fred watched as Ron pushed his way out of the crowd on the otherside of the hallway and walk up to Hermione, stepping in front of her. Draco cackled at Fred's younger brother.

"Aww, if it isn't little Weasel to the rescue. Mind running along? I'm not finished sorting out this Mudblood here." Draco was reaching for his wand, but Ron drew his quicker.

"Don't talk to my girlfriend like that!!! _Stupefy!" _Ron yelled as Malfoy fell to the ground unconscious.

* * *

The rest of the day was a blur. George had finally pulled him away from the scene of Ron declaring his relationship with Hermione. Fred hadn't even really acknowledged Angelina and he felt bad about it, but he really just wanted some time alone. Supper had been bad enough with everyone teasing the new couple, much like the Gryffindors had done 2 months prior when he and Angelina had ended up together. Fred's heart stung at that thought, had Hermione felt this way when he had kissed Angelina so suddenly? He ended up leaving the table without anyone noticing, or so he thought. 

Upon entering the empty Commons, he heard someone walk in after him. "Fred?" The person asked, Fred shut his eyes, he didn't want to turn around.

"Yeah Hermione?" He asked.

"I saw you today."

"I saw you today too."

"Er... I mean... when Malfoy and I were fighting... I saw you." Fred sighed, he wished she hadn't of.

"Just looking out for my lil sis." _Lie_. _Stupid liar_. _Horrible liar_. Fred was scowling at himself.

"What? Are you saying you see me as a sister now?" Hermione was getting upset, Fred still had his back to her.

"What do you mean _now_? I have always seen you as a sister."

"Liar!" Fred spun around as she said this.

"I am not lying!!"

"Spuff never lies, Fred! I had to say my _own_ name to turn him back into a bear!" Fred looked away from her.

"You still sleep with it?"

"On... on occasion..." Fred's eyes met hers.

"You don't need to, you've got Ronniekins now, don't you?"

"I... just found out about mine and Ron's relationship," Hermione let out a soft laugh, "the moment he proclaimed that I was his girlfriend was the moment we started dating... But he's really not the reason I sleep with Spuff... Ron tried to kiss me earlier... I don't know why I'm telling you that." She hoped he hadn't picked up on the comment about Spuff.

"Not the best kisser is he?" Fred tried to smile, but had such difficulty that he gave up.

"Actually, I wouldn't know. I didn't kiss him."

"Why not??"

"Because, well..." Hermione bit her lower lip and took a few cautious steps forward. "I... don't feel right kissing him... at least not right now..."

"You don't want to kiss your boyfriend?" Fred smirked, the way Hermione was inching closer to him, he could tell what she was hinting at.

"Fred?" Hermione looked up at him.

"Yeah?"

"Could you please start being yourself again?"

The question took Fred off guard and he quickly responded with a "What?!"

"You've been so depressed lately. Or at least off in your own world... Angelina looks so worried all the time, I think she thinks you're going to break up with her... And George is trying to be as lively as he can for the both of you, but he looks even more concerned than Angelina." Fred looked away.

"I'm not... trying to be upset." Hermione nodded and began walking towards the stairs to her dorm. "Hermione?"

"Yeah, Fred?"

"If I told you that if you kissed me I would stop being depressed, would you kiss me?" Hermione turned around.

"I'd tell you I wasn't a cheater... And if I told you that you made a big mistake when you chose Angelina over me, would you agree?"

"I'd tell you I can't change the past..." He strode quickly over to Hermione, leaning down so he was level with her. "But I would say yes..." His voice, his closeness, had sent her heart racing and Hermione cursed at herself. Every time she ended up alone with this silly red-head, she found herself wishing he would do things to her, wishing her would hold her and kiss her... but it was all so morally wrong to her!

His eyes were staring intently into her own, but kept flicking down to stare at her lips. Voices came from outside the portrait and Hermione peered over Fred's shoulder on her tip-toes. "Someone is coming." She whispered. Fred's hand swiftly moved from his side and caught Hermione's face, turning her to look at him. He gently leaned forward and placed the softest, almost unnoticable, kiss on Hermione's lips. Neather one had even shut their eyes and Hermione thought it was one of the most seductively sweet kisses she had ever experienced... Actually, it was the _only_ kiss she had ever experienced. Fred smirked at her pleading expression and stood back up to see George walk into the room. Fred's twin froze and stared at the two.

"Don't tell me I walked in on you guys again."

"Nope." Fred smiled at George as he walked away from Hermione, more people were coming into the room, including Ron, and he didn't want anyone to suspect anything.

"You all right, Hermione?" Ron asked as he walked up to his new girlfriend, "You look flushed."

* * *

"You never did tell me what you want." Angelina said as she rested her head on Fred's shoulder, watching the crackling fire late at night. 

"A bear," he replied without hesitation.

"A what?"

"I want a bear... preferably one that turns into a person when you sleep with it."

"You're a pervert."

* * *

**A/N ::** I saw OOTP last week and I must say, when the twins kept apparating, I kept thinking "Instant hotness!" lol. Has anybody else ever noticed that Ginny is always by them in the movies?? 

Anyhoo, I have started a new fanfic, well, two of them actually. A Fremione one-shot and a Severus/Lily fic. Expect me to update this one at least once a week, usually on Tuesdays. lol.  
**Reviews are Love!**


	9. It Just Keeps Getting Worse

**Disclaimer ::** I am not JKR nor do I own any of her wonderful characters that I use in my story.

**A/N ::** Sorry for the delay in updating... Deathly Hallows was a horrible blow to me and I've actually been very depressed about it. Gar. But, thank you to my reviewers and my readers, without you, I wouldn't find my motivation... Onto the story!

* * *

"I'm going to explode." 

"No you're not, Fred."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not."

"You don't understand, George, my heart is going to go 'ka-boom!' if I don't do something soon."

"What are you talking about?!" George asked incredulously. Fred just scowled at the ceiling, one arm behind his head. The twins were alone in their dorm with their beds pulled together, staring at the ceiling and talking. It was much easier to talk this way at night, they learned, having the beds pulled together so they wouldn't end up passed out on a single bed, usually kicking eachother in the face while they slept at eather end.

"I don't know what to do anymore," Fred grumbled as he found a fuzzy black bear next to his pillow. It was the gift Angelina had given him. She had given him a little _more _than just the small palm-sized bear, but his heart would shudder when he thought about what had happened in the empty classroom. Of course he didn't shudder because he detested the memory, he liked being with his girlfriend, but what he felt was more of a guilty stab because Hermione had crossed his mind more then once when he had Angelina pressed against a wall.

"Well, things seem to be going all right," George murmured. "Never seen Angelina more happy."

"This... isn't about Angelina." George tilted his head to the side to stare at his twin.

"That's the only female you should really be worrying about; your girlfriend." Fred glared at George.

"I'm worried about Hermione. Ron keeps looking at those Beaux-Beaux girls." George let out a laugh.

"You think Ron has a chance in hell of getting with a Beauxbaton girl? Those veela women are picky."

"I don't know George..."

"Hermione is a big girl, she can handle herself. Just... get out of the habit of avoiding her." George said this as he ruffled his twin's hair.

"Hey!" Fred exclaimed as he messed up his brother's hair in return, "I've been doing good about that! I just... don't like it when Ron is around."

"I noticed... How do you feel about Angelina?"

"I like her. I do. Honest!" Fred proclaimed when George raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I just... I don't want to hurt her because of how I feel about Hermione."

"So you do love her then?"

"Er, um, I think so... Or else I'm tettering on the edge of it." George let out a sigh as the twins both got out of bed to push Fred's back to it's normal spot. Their dorm mates would be coming up from the Common Room soon and the twins wanted a headstart at the chance for a good night's sleep, they were both exhausted.

"Please don't hurt Angelina."

"It's a relationship, George, someone is bound to get hurt in the end."

"Yeah, I understand that, but... Don't intentionally do it. And quit messing with Hermione's heart."

"I'm not messing with her heart!"

"Yes, you are. Stop putting yourself in situations. You're both taken, she's two years younger then you, be a little more responsible." Fred stared at his twin with his mouth hanging open.

"What have you done to my George?" Fred asked, taken aback by his brother's comment about responsibility.

"Creating candies and fake wands and setting off dungbombs are one thing, Fred, but fooling around with a fragile heart is another." Fred nodded in understanding at what his brother was saying. George had always had a reputation for being quite the charmer, but last year he got a bit carried away and the Ravenclaw girl he had been seeing had been so distraught by his careless actions that she left Hogwarts. Fred knew George had always regretted his actions, which was probably why he mellowed down a lot with women, yet he still managed to keep his reputation and was desired by many.

"What do you suggest I do?" Fred mumbled, obviously annoyed at how George was treating him like a kid, but he knew that his brother meant well. George probably felt uncomfortable knowing he had walked in, twice, on an almost-love-affair between his brother and Hermione. Still, Fred was his other half and Angelina was his first girlfriend, George wanted him to experience everything for himself, but not at the expense of breaking hearts. Both twins climbed into their own beds, pulling their covers up to their necks.

"Take it a day at a time and quit cornering Hermione," Fred let out a small laugh as George said this. "She's happy in her relationship and you're content in yours. No reason to start up drama."

* * *

Ron pulled Hermione away from the rest of the Gryffindor group and led her down a secluded hallway by Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Harry followed them for a moment, but then thought better when he saw Ron give him a look over his shoulder. The messy-haired boy wandered back to his classmates looking lonely and confused without his best friends. "Ron, what are we--?" 

"Shh."

"But Ron, we'll be late for--!"

"Shh!" When Ron finally silenced her questioning, he pulled his girlfriend into an empty classroom and closed the door behind himself. Hermione wandered towards the other side of the classroom, turning around to wait for him. Soon Ron walked over to her, his eyes glancing up and down her, smiling. He had a certain look in his eyes that almost frightened her, making her step back away from him. Ron watched her feet shuffling backwards and gave her a hurt expression. "We've been dating for a few weeks now..."

"Yes, Ron, around three and a half."

"So why haven't you kissed me?" Ron licked his lips as he said this and Hermione felt her back press against the stone wall.

"I, er... what?" Her eyes darted around the room as Ron closed the space between them, pressing his body firmly against her's.

"Why haven't you kissed me?" He repeated. "I thought you liked me."

"I do! I just, er, haven't kissed a boy before..." _Liar. You still remember Fred's lips._ Hermione jumped when Ron placed a hand on her chin, turning her head upwards so that she was looking at him, his lips hovering inches from her mouth.

"Then let me be your first kiss." Hermione swallowed hard, it was definately not like Ron to come on to her this strongly, expecially since they had done nothing more than merely cuddle and blush. The girl had no time for a response as Ron's rough lips swooped down and caught her's in a warm embrace. For a moment they stood like this, lips just pressed together, unmoving. Hermione was blinking at his closed eyes, trying to grasp what was going on. Then Ron moved back, releasing her lips and stared at her, a small grin forming on his face. "See? That wasn't so bad."

Hermione returned his smile, he was right, it wasn't. Ron took this as a sign that it was ok to kiss her again, and he did, albeit somewhat clumsily. The hand that was on her chin moved back across her cheek, stopping on her neck, while his other hand rested on her waist, causing Hermione to tense slightly under his touch. This continued for a few moments, and although they were both rather inexperienced, it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

"You're beautiful..." he whispered as his lips moved from her mouth and began placing kisses on her jaw bone. Hermione's hands moved up and she placed them on Ron's chest, trying to push him back. She was getting scared.

Ron didn't seem to take the hint and pressed harder against her, the hand on her waist moved down and his fingers began to slide up the hem of her shirt.

"Ron!" She gasped as she pushed harder against his chest, jerking her head away, which only exposed her neck more and Ron took advantage of this by kissing her bare skin. His fingers were sliding up farther, his hand now hidden by her shirt as he reached the underwire of her bra. Hermione wanted to yell, to tell him to stop, but nothing escaped her throat. She felt paralyzed, weak even. Hermione knew Ron probably didn't know what was going on with her, he probably didn't know that the reason she kept saying his name was not because of pleasure, it was because she wanted him to stop. Her hands fell limply to her side and she glanced at the door over Ron's shoulder, begging for someone to burst it.

But no one came.

No one ever came.

* * *

Fred growled in frustration. He couldn't find Hermione anywhere and he needed Angelina's magazines back, he couldn't stand his girlfriend's complaints anymore. But after searching for Hermione all day to no avail, he decided to just go up to her room and get them on his own. The only students in the Commons were the ones who had a study period. He easily slipped up to the 4th year girl's dorm and closed the door silently behind himself. 

"My goodness," he said as he surveyed the room. "They're messier then the boys." Fred cautiously stepped over piles of dirty clothing and scattered make-up containers. There were boxes of candies and chocolates and posters of shirtless men pinned onto the walls. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw Hermione's bed. Compared to the others in the room, Hermione's bed definately stood out. Where the others had colors, Hermione's was just a blue-ish grey, the others were unkempt, but Hermione's sheets were perfectly straight and wrinkle-free. Basically put, all the other beds screamed 'Girl!' while Hermione's screamed otherwise...

"You can change your appearance to a beauty queen, Hermione, but you'll always be my bookworm." Fred muttered this as he jumped on her bed, deliberately messing it up, laughing as he imagined her face when she walked in to find her bed as chaotic as the others. He sighed as he breathed in her soft scent, glancing around her bed to try and find the magazines.

"SPUFF!!!" He suddenly shouted as he spotted the bear on the windowsill. Fred grabbed it and hugged it close, noticing that the stuffed animal no longer smelled like him, but smelled like Hermione. He stopped hugging it and stared at him, "I missed you... But don't tell anyone I said that." Fred hugged the bear again and placed him back in his spot, patting him on the head.

Climbing off the bed, Fred stumbled over to her wardrobe, tripping on large, thick books. He opened it up and looked for the magazines, but couldn't find them. Right before he shut the doors in defeat, Fred let out a small gasp when he saw something black and lacey. His hand darted forward and he pulled out a pair of underwear, but this wasn't just _any_ pair of underwear, this pair was an ebony lace thong. He stared at it in disbelief, there was no way in hell Hermione would wear something as risque as that!

Fred's mind raced, procuring images of Hermione in various positions wearing the lingerie. "I'm such a pervert," he told himself as he shook the images from his mind, putting the underwear back where it belonged --- behind closed doors and away from him.

Suddenly the door to the room flung open and slammed shut with so much force that the windows shook. Fred's immediate reaction was to hide... Which is what he did. He pressed himself against the floor next to Hermione's books, thankful that he had put her underwear back before the person came into the room. Fred heard the person shuffling around in the room and tried to figure out how he was going to get out without the girl screaming. Hermione's bed shifted and Fred could hear someone sniffling, trying not to cry. Slowly Fred peeked over the matress and saw Hermione sitting with her back to him.

At first he was a little depressed that she didn't throw a hissy-fit over the mess he had made of her bed, but then he realized that she really was crying...

Her shoulders were shaking and soon the sounds of her soft sobs were too much for him to take. "Mione?" He whispered.

Hermione froze, wiping her eyes quickly, looking around the room. "Are you ok?" Fred asked. Hermione turned around and finally found him, two eyes peeping over the edge of her bed.

"Go away," she mumbled as she turned back around. Fred rolled his eyes and crawled onto the bed to sit next to her.

"You can talk to me, you know..." She shook her head. "Yes, you can." She continued to shake her head, more and more furiously, her crying growing more louder as one hand reached up and covered her neck. Next thing Fred knew, he was trying to keep his balance as Hermione turned to him and threw her arms around him, bawling into his chest. He fell backwards onto her pillows, almost hitting the headboard, as Hermione buried her head into his shirt, clutching the fabric. Fred was in utter shock, he had never seen Hermione this upset before and he wasn't even quite sure of what to do, George was the girl expert, not him. "Hermione?"

The girl continued to cry as she layed ontop of Fred, he decided it would be best if he brought his arms up and hugged her, trying to let her know that he was there for her. After a long while, she finally began to calm down and sat up slowly, wiping a few of the tears that still fell. Fred looked down at the large wet spot she had left on his shirt and frowned, something bad had happened to her.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly, reaching out to rub her back.

"He... he... classroom... wouldn't stop..."

"What?" Fred instantly got closer to her. "What happened Hermione? You've got to tell me..." She cried a little bit more as Fred continued to rub slow circles on her back.

"Ron... He... started kissing me... Wouldn't stop... Kept touching me..." Fred's face grew cold, a demon stirring inside him, he resisted the urge to hunt down Ron and rip him to shreds.

"Did you tell him to stop?" He asked gently, but this seemed like the wrong question to ask because Hermione began crying uncontrollably again.

"No," she finally said as she hiccupped.

"So... you didn't tell him to stop?"

"No... I couldn't... I tried to push him... But I don't think he understood..."

"How could he not understand a push?!"

"Because I... I didn't fight back... I let him..."

"You let him what? What did you let him do?" Hermione sniffled.

"Touch me." Fred felt this soaring pain in his heart as Hermione answered his question with the most quiet, defeated voice.

"Where?" Hermione pointed to her lips. "Where else?" She then pointed to her neck. "Anywhere else?" Hermione's lip trembled as she pointed to the bottom of her shirt, then dragged her finger upwards to point at her chest. Fred gritted his teeth.

"It wasn't his fault though... I... I let him..."

"Did he even ask you if it was ok?! When and where the hell did this happen?!" Hermione started to cry again at Fred's demanding tone. He sighed and pulled her close to him, she really was the most fragile thing he had ever encountered.

"I never told him to stop... so he probably thought it was ok... Besides, he called me beautiful."

"You let him touch you against your will because he called you beautiful?" Hermione was silent and Fred pulled back to stare at her.

"You're better then that, Hermione. I mean, jeeze, I think you're the most amazing creature on this earth, but you don't see me trying to get down your pants." Hermione looked away and he pulled her back to his chest, resting his head ontop of her's. "Hermione, you have got to understand something... It's not about what he wants... It's about what you want. I mean, all guys want some action, but if you're not ready, than you just have to tell him that. If he cares for you, he'll understand."

Hermione continued to stay in Fred's arms, letting his words sink in. Fred was furious, absolutely furious at Ron, but he wasn't going to let it show, not in front of Hermione. After the girl had her emotions under control, they decided they should probably head to Great Hall for dinner since Hermione had ended up skipping a class. Hermione fixed her hair, adjusted her clothing, and added some more mascara while Fred watched her.

"So, how do I look?" She asked.

"Perfect. Can't even tell you've been crying for the past hour." Hermione smiled.

"Good." She walked towards the door and turned back to Fred when he wasn't following. "Coming?"

"Yeah..." He got up from the bed and crossed the room to stand next to her. Hermione straightened his shirt a bit and ran her fingers through his hair really quick to fix a few tangles. She had no clue how badly Fred didn't want her to stop. "Mione?"

"Yes?"

"I kind of miss you." Hermione frowned a bit and laughed, turning around to open the door to leave, but Fred moved his hand over the top of her head and held the door shut. She looked back at him and he stared down at her. "I'm serious," he whispered.

"Oh, come on Fred. We live seperate lives now. I only talk to you once in awhile."

"I know. I miss it. I miss it a lot." Hermione gave him a soft, knowing smile before opening up the door and stepping out onto the steps. Fred followed after her and they began walking down to the Commons.

"Wait... what exactly were you doing in my room?"

"Looking at your lacey thong." Hermione's eyes went wide and she punched Fred.

"Fredrick!" She yelled, "Don't tell anyone!" Fred laughed and went to explain, but someone else spoke,

"Don't tell anyone what?" Fred looked over Hermione and saw Ron standing in the Commons, staring at him with disgust.

"Nothing." Hermione answered quickly, looking up at Fred then over at Ron. Fred knew this situation wasn't looking good.

"Why weren't you in class?" Ron asked. The Commons grew quiet, there was a handfull of people in there, including Angelina.

"Uh, er..." Hermione was trying to think of a quick excuse, she didn't want to tell Ron that she was crying because of him. "I wasn't feeling too well."

"Right," Ron didn't believe her. "And why were you up in the girl's dorm with her?" Ron's words were ice as he stared at his older brother.

"I... was getting magazines," Fred answered truthfully.

"Really? What did you do, forget them?" Ron wasn't believing Fred eather.

"As a matter of fact, I did."

"Go get them then."

"I... can't... I don't know where they are." In all actuality, that was just an excuse not to leave Hermione with an angry, short-tempered Ron.

"Likely story," Ron said as he walked away to leave the room.

"He's telling the truth, Ron!" Hermione shouted. Ron didn't respond and left the Commons. Everyone was staring at Fred and Hermione. Angelina quickly got up and left the room also. "You should chase after her," Hermione mumbled to Fred.

"I want to find those dumb magazines to prove my point."

* * *

Fred walked up to the Gryffindor table awhile after Hermione had left. He had found the magazines, they were in the bathroom and under the bed, and was taking them to show his git of a brother. Fred was doing his best to keep his anger in check. The demon inside of him was raging and wanted to tear Ron in half for touching Hermione, and then for making it look like she was cheating. He spotted Hermione sitting next to Ginny, all alone, playing with a plate of untouched food. Ron wasn't sitting next to her, in fact, he was sitting with a group of boys who kept glancing in Hermione's direction, talking loudly. As Fred got closer, he could hear what Ron was saying. 

"Not really the best kisser. I've had loads better than that," all the boys Ron was talking to looked over at Hermione and sniggered. Ginny was red in the face, clutching a steak knife in one hand and her wand in the other, another few moments and she could very well be stabbing and hexing the hell out of her brother.

"Does she put out at all?" One boy asked.

"Oh hell no. As prude as that Loony Lovegood." Fred and Ginny both slammed down their fists on the table. Ginny because Ron had insulted her two close friends and Fred because, well, no one talks about Hermione like that!

Ron looked over and saw Fred glaring down at him. He smiled at his friends then stood up also, nearly his brother's height.

"Liar," Fred hissed.

"No, I'm not. Hermione isn't a good kisser." Fred felt his blood boil. He knew Ron did this whenever he was feeling insecure, but to go as far as insult his girlfriend when all she had been doing was crying for a hour after he touched her... It was too much...

"Really? I thought she was bloody amazing." The words were out of Fred's mouth before he knew it. There was a lot of gasping from the people around them.

"She said she's never kissed a boy before!" Fred laughed and the Great Hall grew silent, all eyes on the two brothers.

"Exactly, you prat, I'm practically a year from being of age. I'm a man." Ron's fists shook in fury as he glanced over at Hermione, which made Fred want to go on. "Oh, and she's far from prude. _Far _from it. She's really, _really _good if you know what I mean," Fred winked at his little brother and smiled wickedly.

"You... you've... with her?" Fred just continued to smile, loving the horrified look on Ron's face. Of course Fred hadn't done anything with Hermione, but he wasn't agreeing or deny Ron's question. There was a loud clatter as someone threw their silverware onto their plate and stood up. Fred looked over Ron's shoulder and saw Angelina coming towards him, George quickly getting up to follow after her, begging her to sit back down. Fred cursed, she must have heard. Angelina pushed passed him and walked over to Hermione, standing in front of her, as George stopped next to Fred.

A loud, resounding 'smack' echoed in the Hall as Angelina back-handed Hermione across the face.

"Stay the hell away from my boyfriend, Granger," she spat before marching out of the Great Hall. George looked wildly between Fred, Ron, and Ginny; who had jumped to her feet and had her wand pointed at Angelina's receding back.

"What did I say about drama?" George whispered at his twin, pleading with his voice for Fred to stop arguing. Fred watched George run after a crying Angelina, pushing Ginny back into her seat. All eyes in the room were turned to Fred and he felt guilt shoot through his body.

When had he become the bad guy?

* * *

**A/N ::** Much longer chapter, I hope you liked it. Thank you for reading. **Please Review!**


	10. Liars and Cheaters

**Disclaimer ::** I am not JKR nor do I own any of her wonderful characters that I use in my story.

**A/N ::** It has been too long... I'm back and I've found time to write -- which I'm doing in a crazy-like fashion, so expect a new chapter soon!! Super super loves to all those who have waited patiently ((or impatiently, lol)) for an update.

* * *

Fred paced back and forth in front of the large oak doors, mentally debating with himself on whether or not he should knock. He was nuts, he had to be. He was currently without his twin, without any form of protection ((i.e. dungbombs and fanged frisbees)), and wandering the halls at 1 in the morning. There was no one to talk to and he longed for the Burrow... Was this why he was standing outside these particular doors? 

Finally, after what seemed like hours, he let out a determined sigh and knocked on the door. Fred cursed at himself, he had actually knocked, he had to be bonkers. Shuffling was heard and a loud 'clack' came from behind the oak as it was unlocked, followed by a scrape on the floor as the door was slowly pulled opened to reveal an older woman in a garnet robe and a hairnet. "Mr. Weasley?"

"Hello McGonagall."

"What on earth are you doing at this time at night?" She glanced up and down the corridor, undoubtedly looking for George.

"I... er... I'm not quite sure." Fred smiled sheepishly. The professor could tell his smile was strained and that after the whole incident at dinner, Fred was probably becoming a bit of an outcast. She let out a soft sigh and stepped back to open the door more.

"How about a cup of tea, Mr. Weasley?" Fred perked up at her kind words and grinned.

"Sounds lovely, Professor." He followed his teacher into a dimly lit room with a couch, two chairs, a table, and practically a library full of books. She motioned for him to sit as she produced a pot of tea and two cups. McGonagall sat in a leather chair as Fred took the couch. They both sipped tea in silence for a few moments before the professor cleared her throat, grabbing Fred's attention.

"I can assume you had a purpose for coming here?" She asked.

"Ah, um, yes... I was just curious... Is there any way I could get my hands on a Timeturner?" It was the only excuse Fred could come up with. He didn't want to say he missed his mother, oh no, he'd never admit that in a million years. Besides, at that moment, a Timeturner really did sound like a wonderful idea.

"Why would you need a Timeturner, Fred?" The teacher never seemed to amaze him on how she could tell both he and George apart.

"I've messed up a few things, and I want to change it."

"What exactly do you want to change, Mr. Weasley?" Fred set down his cup and looked directly at McGonagall, he wanted her to know that he was being absolutely serious.

"I want to go back and I... I want to stop myself from talking to her after I gave her an old bear I, um, found..." Of course he wouldn't tell his Transfiguration teacher that he, a Weasley Twin, a young man who teemed of humor and jokes, actually carried a bear around.

"Are we talking about a certain fourth year?" Fred nodded as he grabbed his tea again, trying to hide his blush. "And is that what Miss Granger wants too? For you to have never befriended her?"

"Err, well..."

"Mr. Weasley," it was McGonagall's turn to set her tea down, "we all make mistakes. Some days, it may feel like the end of the world with just one look from someone, but you have got to keep your chin up. You've got friends and family who love you dearly --" Fred snorted at the mention of anyone loving him at the moment. "Do you not believe that there are those who love you?"

"Professor, even if they did, I just destroyed all of them, I don't even know where to start trying to make things better."

"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you're doomed if you don't try, Mr. Weasley. You may not see it, but I have all of you, students, in my classes and I'm a lot more aware of what goes on than you might think."

"What are you saying, Professor?"

"I'm saying, that perhaps you should take a stroll down the East Hall on the 3rd floor during the middle of Lunch tomorrow." Fred got the hint and a toothy grin formed on his freckled face.

"I'll do just that."

* * *

The next day had to be the loneliest, most depressing day Fred could ever remember. When he tried to talk to Angelina, she had chucked a book at his head... Because of her Chaser skills, it headed directly towards his nose, but he was a skilled Beater and he knocked the flying tome out of the way before it could do any damage. This only caused her to be even more furious, so she began to yell and throw more books until she chased him out of the Common room and into the halls. She was a sweet girl, but she had a rather nasty bit of a temper. 

Then, upon finally losing his girlfriend by hiding under a stairwell, he ran into Ron, who promptly cussed him out and stormed off. If that wasn't bad enough, when he asked Ginny where Hermione was, his sister had smacked him and told him to quit meddling. George and Lee were no where to be found in the morning and he was definitely feeling like the bad guy... He didn't even have Spuff to cheer him up and that bothered him a lot.

Fred spent the time before Lunch looking for Hermione, he really didn't know why, because the two times he saw her, he ducked and made sure she didn't notice him. Perhaps he was trying to make sure that she was all right, there were a few nasty rumors being spread about her now, most of them being his fault. Professor McGonagall had spotted him while Hermione was talking to her and she nodded to him as though wishing him luck.

Fred spent Lunch alone, leaned up against a wall on the 3rd floor. He still couldn't find his twin nor his best friend and was getting antsy waiting for, well, whatever he as waiting for. A few first years walked by him and one boy made it a point to stand in front of his girlfriend, shielding her from Fred. The redhead raised an eyebrow at the boy and said loudly, "It's too late, I already snuck her a love potion." Fred laughed as the boyfriend ushered the blushing girl away, glaring at the twin. It was as if Fred was some sort of womanizer.

He was slowly coming to the conclusion that this whole school sucked and that he should convince George to run away with him to live with Charlie. Fred sighed loudly, it was all getting to be too much, he needed George more than anything right now, and he _still _couldn't find him.

"I told you, no more!" Fred looked down the empty hall when he heard a shouting Ron.

"But, 'Easley, you know the deal." Fred ducked behind a statue and peered around it to watch as Ron came down the hall arguing with three Beauxbaton students, two girls and one boy.

"Look, I understand. I did what you told me to do, now will you please just leave Hermione out of this?!"

"You may 'ave dumped 'er but you gave 'er to your brother." Fred thought he saw a flash of red to his left, but wrote it off as just his reflection from the suit of armor across the way.

"I didn't give her to Fred!! He... he took her from me..." Fred's fists clenched when he heard the hurt in his brother's voice. He knew his careless words had got to Ron, but he didn't realize how much damage he actually did.

"Vell she is still taken then, yes? Then you did not do vat you said you would, so now she vill pay."

"NO!" Ron yelled, his face red with anger. "I did everything I could think of to get her to hate me! I came onto her, I didn't stop when she pleaded, I spread rumors, I hurt her so bad... And it wasn't my intention that she'd fall for my bloody brother!"

"Zen break zem up! You know vat vill happen if you don't, yes?"

"Yes..." Ron nodded, looking down at the floor in defeat.

"Good, zen our conversation is done." The group of three walked away from Ron down the opposite side of the hall that Fred was at. Fred watched his brother lean up against a wall and cover his eyes with his hands.

Summoning up some courage, Fred cautiously stepped out from behind the statue and walked towards Ron. "Hey," he said softly. Ron looked over at him.

"What do you want?"

"I'm... not with Hermione."

"Are you kidding me? Everyone heard what you said."

"I... I didn't mean for that. You just... if you had seen her face, Ron, you would have understood--"

"I saw her face perfectly!! _I_ was the one making her hurt! Did you think I was bloody blind when I sat there saying those horrible things to her?!" The two stood in silence, Ron looked like he was on the brink of tears and his breath was shaky.

"Ron?" A gentle voice behind Fred spoke and he turned around to see Hermione walking up to them. Harry, George, and Lee were behind her. "Ron?" Hermione whispered again, walking towards the fourth year, passing by Fred. Fred felt his hand reaching out to her, but stopped himself.

"Hermione... Don't tell me you heard that." Ron said, his face growing redder as Hermione got closer.

"I heard it all." Fred glanced at Harry's hand and saw the Invisibility Cloak being tucked away, he wanted to ask how they all fit under the little thing, but decided to ask later. He really had no right to be here, it was a Ron and Hermione moment, and he didn't deserve to be in _her_ presence. Slowly he walked away, George, Lee, and Harry all following close behind him, leaving the reunited couple alone.

"How did you guys know?" Fred finally asked when the silence began to bother him.

"Know to be here?" Harry asked.

"Yeah."

"McGonagall let slip to Hermione that it would be in her best interest to head down this way. She and Harry were already here with the Cloak when Lee and I walked by... McGonagall had tipped us off too. Harry just grabbed us and we all made ourselves fit."

"It was a bit of a hassle trying to keep covered, I think you spotted us." Harry added. Fred nodded; he had seen George and not his reflection in the armor earlier.

"What was that whole thing about?" Fred asked.

"Not one bloody clue, mate." George said.

"But we do know one thing," Lee chimed.

"What's that?"

"Hand 'em here, Harry." George reached his hand out as Harry produced a thick stack of papers.

"You know that tall blonde that was with those two Beaux-Beaux girls?"

"Yeah, what about 'em, Lee?"

"He likes to walk around in girl's lingerie when he thinks no one else is around." George said, grinning as he showed his twin a picture of the Beauxbaton boy in a matching blue bra and knickers. Fred's laugh echoed down the hallway.

"We've been tailing them for awhile since Harry saw those three arguing with Ron, right Harry?" Harry nodded at Lee.

"Anyways, we figured we'd get back at them, especially since that whole ordeal. This should shut them up for awhile." George snickered as he pointed his wand to the back of a picture, muttered an Unpeelable Sticky spell, and stuck the paper to a wall. Lee and Harry followed his example and they began posting them anywhere they could reach. "Think we should give some to Peeves to scatter around?"

Fred and George both laughed as Fred began helping with the posters. Things were starting to get better. He had his twin, he had his friends, and although Hermione completely ignored him, he was happy that she was happy. He just had to keep his chin up.

* * *

Fred walked around with his friends for a while until he decided that he should go make things right with Angelina. He figured that the best place to start looking for his girlfriend would be in the Commons, which was where he was heading. Fred walked through the portrait to find Hermione and Ron sitting in overstuffed chairs, sipping drinks. Not knowing quite what to do, he froze like a deer in the headlights and stood staring at them. "Yeah, mate?" Ron asked. 

"Ah, um, have you guys seen Angelina?"

"Lunch is just getting over with, she may be coming up soon." Fred nodded at what Ron was saying, he was painfully aware that Hermione was making an effort to ignore him.

"What was... that all about?" Fred dared to ask.

"I caught a few of the Beauxbaton students cheating on each other and they threatened to really do one over on Hermione unless I broke up with her. They're upperclassmen, they know some nasty hexes." Ron wasn't looking at Fred when he said this. If Fred knew one thing from living with Ron all these years, was that he could tell when he was lying, and Ron was definately lying. Fred played along though, he didn't want to call him out in front of Hermione, she had enough going on as it was.

"So you decided to destroy Hermione instead of telling her? She's the brightest girl in your class, hell, the school, and you didn't ask her what you should do?" Although he didn't call Ron out on the lie, Fred instantly knew this was the wrong thing to say because Ron stood up as though he wanted to fight. Hermione stood up also and asked him to sit back down. She glared at Fred then resumed ignoring him. "Ah, look, I'm sorry. I should have never butted in and..." Fred chest began to clench, his heart was yelling at him again to not say anything. "Even though I think it was the cowards way out and you should of just blackmailed them... I'll make sure I won't be bothering you guys anymore."

Hermione finally chanced a glance at him, but he was already walking away from the two. Fred didn't want to look at her eyes, he didn't want to be drawn right back into those amber orbs after he had already done so much damage to her. He was walking away for good, he wanted her to be happy and she was better off with Ron. For a moment, he thought she was running after him, but he had been wrong. Why would she run after him anyways? She had Ron. Even though he made it a point not to look at her when she turned to glance at him, just the fact that she had, made his heart ache more. McGonagall had been wrong... the world really could end with just one look.

As Fred headed out of the Commons and through the portrait, he spotted Angelina and Katie walking towards him, Lunch was over and laughter could be heard up and down the halls as students caught sight of posters on the walls. Although he didn't want to run into her so soon, especially after it felt like his heart was breaking again, Fred dared to open his mouth. "Hey, Angelina---"

"Do you know where George is?" Angelina cut Fred off before he could finish. Her tone of voice made Fred's eyes narrow.

"I am George, can't you tell?" He replied as he began walking with the girls.

"Really now? Well then, _George_, if you happen to see Fred, could you tell him to go drown in the lake?" She knew he was lying, she was one of the few who could tell the twins apart, but she played along with Fred's game.

"Why? All he wants to do is make it up to you." Angelina laughed as Fred said this.

"He's a git, he cheated on me, he humiliated me in front of the whole school, and I feel completely used."

"Like I said, he wants to make things better. Besides, you don't have the whole story, love."

"Tell him to drop dead."

"Aww... But I'd be too lonely if he did."

"Why? You have me. Or have you already forgotten last night?" Fred stopped walking and stood with his mouth agape.

Angelina continued down the hall, but Katie slowed down to look back at Fred with a worried expression. That small bit of happiness Fred had earlier with his friends washed away, that small bit of hope that everything would be ok was gone with that simple sentence. He remembered George running after Angelina at dinner... Had she really cheated on him with his twin? Had he any right to be furious when Angelina thought that he had cheated on her with Hermione?

But... he didn't cheat on her... Would George really do that to him?

Oh the world was definately ending all right.

* * *

**A/N ::** Hope you liked it. I was kinda **iffy **on it. Expect more from Hermione's POV from now. Reviews are loved and **thank you** to my readers!!! 


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